Barclays Stockbrokers, part of UK banking group Barclays, has launched BARXdirect, a new trading platform package for sophisticated retail investors.

The suite - BARXdirect: equities, BARXdirect: FX and BARXdirect: CFD - has been designed to give clients access to multiple markets and asset classes, as well as analysis and the latest market news.

"This is the first time we have focused on competing in the FX bracket, but the main selling point is that we provide Barclays Capital research, the spreads are neutral spreads, not from a stockbroker... The primary client base for BARXdirect is still trading equities, but people are moving around a lot more than they used to," Paul Inkster, head of product at Barclays Stockbrokers, told WealthBriefing.

According to Des Byrne managing director, Barclays Stockbrokers the package follows a growing trend for investors to adopt sophisticated techniques to generate high returns. Hence Barlcays are providing institutional-grade research from Barclays Capital, LSE Level 2 price data on equities and interactive charting.

BARXdirect: FX offers a fully integrated margin management system and a range of order management tools - such as SlipFiX which enables clients to control the price their order is filled at, the firm said.  

“Looking at August, trading volumes on BARXdirect: FX increased 50 per cent year on year.  FX is a key asset class and we have continued to invest in our platform and offering. BARXdirect: FX is set to redefine the retail FX space,” added Mr Byrne.

BARXdirect: Equities gives access to news  feeds from six providers, including Dow Jones newswires and the London Stock Exchange’s Regulatory News Service.

BARXdirect: CFDs and Financial Spread Trading enables trading on the price movements of thousands of underlying financial instruments including UK, US and European equities, as well as major stock indices, sectors, currencies and commodities.